WE NEED more buses – that is the plea of two blind women in Weymouth.

Katherine Howe and Sam Cole say they are fed up with waiting 30 minutes for a bus only to find it ‘crammed to capacity’ when it arrives.

First bus operators have reduced their No 1 service, which goes from Weymouth town centre to Portland via Wyke Regis, from nine buses to seven since April 20.

The buses are supposed to run every 10 minutes, however, Katherine and Sam say they have regularly waited half an hour for the bus since the rescheduling.

Mum-of-two Katherine, 37, from Wyke Regis, is registered blind and depends on the bus to get around on a daily basis.

She said: “I am fed up, let down and stressed by the lack of buses now running.

“I’ve often waited a good 25 minutes, which is cold, boring and time-wasting, then when the bus comes it is so packed it is stressful.”

She added: “Please First, urgently put the buses back on.

“It was a good service before, waiting seven to eight minutes is fine, but 25 to 30 minutes – well, people are going to stop bothering with their buses.

“I have to use a bus because I can’t drive.

“It’s summer season approaching, the buses are heaving now – please bring them back.”

Sam Cole, from Clearmount Road, Weymouth, is also registered blind and finds it hard to get her baby’s buggy onboard the crammed buses.

She said: “I am a daily bus user and I am appalled at the lack of buses. Talking to other passengers, they too agree taking the bus is now stressful.

“No longer seven to eight minutes, now each time you can wait up to 25 or 30 minutes. What a waste of a life.”

She added: “So much for free travel for the disabled and the Government supposedly supporting public transport.

“Now the buses have dropped in number, waiting is lengthy then when a bus comes along it is crammed to capacity.

“We are all upset at the crowded limited buses.”

First spokesman Gordon Frost said there had been ‘a glitch’ in the new timetable but reassured passengers the service would be back on track soon.

Mr Frost said: “The frequency has changed from seven-or-eight minutes to a 10-minute frequency but we’ve had some problems with the newer, larger vehicles now in the service.

“There have been occasions when there has been a half-hour gap in the service but we’re working to get it right.

“It should be corrected within the next two days.”